Carpet-cleaner.



No. 724,442. PATENTED APR'. 7, 1903 G. AI GOWGILL.

CARPET CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 24, 1902. H0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. OoweILL, oF EUPHEMIA, oI-IIo.

CARPET-C LEAN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 724,442, dated April'7, 1903.

Application filed April 24, 1902. Serial No. 104,483. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that l, GEORGE A. COWGILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Euphemia, in the county of Preble and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Car pet-Cleaner, of which the following is aspeciication.

This invention relates generally to carpetcleaners, and moreparticularly to an improved construct-iou of cleaner which is animprovement upon Patent No. 676,460, granted to me June 18, 1901, andalso an improvement upon the carpet-cleaner for which I have also ledapplication for patent July 13, 1901, No. 68,209.

The object of the present invention is to provide a carpet-cleaner bymeans of which a number of widths of carpet can be cleaned at one time,thereby avoiding the necessity of ripping the widths of carpet apart;and another object is to provide a carpet-cleaner by means of which rugsof considerable width can be quickly and easily cleaned.

A still further object is to provide a carpet-cleaner in which a carpetof extraordinary length can be cleaned; and a still further object is toprovide means whereby the carpet is held tight at the mouth of thefanblast, thereby utilizing the full force of the said blast for thepurpose of cleaning the carpet.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction,combination, and arrangement of parts, all of which will be fullydescribed hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forminga part of this speciiication, Figure 1 is aperspective View illustrating my improved carpet-cleaner. Fig. 2 is atop plan view, the belts and certain portions of the rollers beingomitted for the sake of clearness of illustration. Fig. 3 is a sectionalview on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail Viewillustrating the rollers for holding the carpet tight at the mouth ofthe fan-blast; Fig. is a detail perspective View illustrating therollers for holding and winding the carpet, and Fig. 6 is a detail viewillustrating the clutch mechanism.

In carrying out my invention I employ a main frame A, which isconstructed substantially. the same as the main frame in the applicationbefore referred to. This main frame, however, is made considerablyWider, the Width of said frame being determined by the size of thecleaner itis desired to make. This main frame A has a series offan-blowers B arranged thereon, said fan-blowers being independent ofeach other and operated as heretofore. i The beaters C and belts D arealso constructed to operate in the same manner as heretofore described;but in order to render each fan-blower independent of the others andalso the beaters I employ a separate shaft E in connection with eachfanblower and beater, each shaft having a'clutch F connected therewithand operated by a lever F', so that the said shaft can be thrown into orout of operation, as desired, said shafts being connected to the rearcross-shaft G by meansof belts G. A separate dust box or chamber H isarranged opposite each fanblower, and in the present construction I haveshown three dust boxes or chambers, each one being provided with a spoutor chute H', extending from the top thereof, and each connects to adischarge-pipe I, connecting all spouts or chutes and carrying the dustoff to a point beyond the cleaner. Each dust-box is provided with anair-inlet tube H2, which extends from the top of the dust box or chamberto a point adjacent to the bottom for the purpose of creating a draftand generating currents by means of which the dust is forced out throughthe spout or chute I-I and pipe I.

The endless belts D travel aroung the rollers upon the main frame andcarry the carpet in front or past the mouth of the series offan-blowers, and in order to hold the carpet tight as it passes themouth of the fanblower, and thereby prevent the airblast forcing thecarpet in toward the dust-box, I employ the rollers K, which arejournaled iu the main frame directly opposite the mouth of thefan-blower, and directly opposite each roller K is a spring-actuated orspring-pressed roller L, said rollers being journaled between the armsM, arranged upon the top and bottom sides of the mouth of the fan-blowerand sliding in the guide-lugs N, coiled spring O IOO Vzo

being arranged upon the said arms and adapted to normally project themtoward the rollers K.

The belts carrying a carpet pass between the rollers K and L, as mostclearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and inasm uch as the rollers L arespring-pressed it is obvious that the carpet will be stretched tight atthe mouth of the fan-blower, and the entire force of the air is thenutilized in forcing the dirt or dust from the carpet and all tendency ofthe carpet to be forced toward the dust-box is avoided. The rollers Lbeing spring-actuated or sprin gpressed will yield to an irregularity inthe carpet, and thereby avoid a stoppage in the machine. In order toclean a carpet of considerable length, I employ two rollers P and Q,which are journaled upon the outside of the main frame in brackets P andQ', re-

spectively.

The carpet of considerable length which is to be cleaned is first woundupon the rollerP and one end connected to the belts D. The machine isthen operated until the end of the carpet is brought around to thestartingpoint. The said end is then detached from the belts andconnected to the roller Q. The machine is then again started, and thecarpet is Wound upon the roller Q by means of the crank Q2 until theentire carpet has been cleaned.

By means of a machine constructed as herein shown and described I amenabled to clean carpets without separating the widths and I am alsoable to clean thoroughly a carpet of considerable length. Furthermore,it will be noted that as the shaft from which the beater and blower areoperated is provided with ,a clutch I am enabled to throw any fan andbeater intoor out of operation at any time.

While I. have illustrated a machine cornprising three fan-blowers,beaters, and dustboXes, it will of course be understoodthat any desirednumber may be employed` and still be within the scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, andvdesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a carpet-cleaner of the kind described, the combination with themainframe, fanblower, dust-box, and carpet-carrying belts, of therollers arranged opposite 'the fanblower upon the inner side of thebelts and the spring-actuated rollers carried by the fan-blower andarranged opposite the firstmentioned rollers, substantially as specied.

2. In acarpet-cleaner,the combination with carpet-carrying'belts, of therollers arranged upon the inner sides of the belts, a second series ofrollers arranged opposite the irstnamed rollers, and the spring-actuatedarms carrying the second series of rollers, substantially as specified.

3. In a carpet-cleanerof the kind described, the combination with themain frame, of a series of fan-blowers, dust-boxes, and beaters, a shaftE journaled in the main frame adjacent to each fan-blower, and a clutcharranged upon said shaft whereby the said blower and beater can bethrown into or out of operation, substantially as specified.

GEORGE A. COWGILL.

Witnesses:

GEORGE BARNHISER, JOSEPH SWEENY.

